Phonograph record rack



Sept. 29, 1942. F. D. SLOUGH 2,297,081

PHONOGRAPH RECORD RACK Filed Oct. 13, 1959 2 sheets-sheet 1 v 4 .5 mas ATTORNEY.

Sept. 29, 1942. F. D. SLOUGH 2,297,0's1

PHONOGRAPH RECORD RACK Filed on. 13, 1959 QSheets-Sheet I N VENT OR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 29, 1942 Y 5 I v i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PHONOGRAPH RECORD RACK Frank D. Slough, Mentor, Ohio Application October 13, 1939, Serial No. 299,293

8 Claims. 7 (Cl. 211 -4 My invention relates to record racks, and reter ial which is preferably applie d to the surfaces lates more particularly to record racks adapted of the record rack of my invention; and for home and other use, of users of phonographs Fig. 6 is a fra y View of another ememploying disc records, and comprising a rack bodiment of my invention. suitable for compactly receiving phonograph disc; rr ng nOW to the different figures of drawrecords during non-use periods thereof. n in Whi e parts aredesignated by li An object of my invention is to provide a rack reference characters, and Which illustrate a p of the above charact whi h can b inexpenferred embodiment of my invention, at 2 is illussively manufactured, and at the same time postrated a relatively thin sheet of steel or like masessing qualities of high utility and being also of a ter al, originally o rec a form, bounded by highdegree f aesthetic appearance straight oppositely disposed end edges 3 and Another object of my invention is to provide d Side edges 5 Said f being f a rack f the above character, f compactly preferably substantially abruptly given a medial receiving a large number of disc phonograph recbend at extending from end to end of Sheet ords an permitting ready removal of said l to dispose the side walls 8 and 9 in relative angucords, without liability of damage to said records. relation- Another object of my invention is to provide a Although my mventmn 1s apphcajble 9 the record rack of the above character, which while 'makmg of F racks for any being extremely light in weight, is adapted to rephonograph also records, whereas ceive a large number of records in compact rela- 2o Vent-ion 1s applicable to embodlments permltting tive disposition, and in the aggregate of a very considerable Variationin the sizes of recsiderable weight without being susceptible to disords i f u Sam rack w tortion While Supporting Such weight panying description will proceed as being for an Another object of my invention is to provide a embodiment of my invention constructed of such record rack of the above character, which may Size and relatlve angular disposltion 0f the Walls be readily transported from place to place while and 9 as W111 be mosflsuitelble for records ycarrying a relatively large number of records in from to m filameter, although 1t place, and without damage to said rack or said W111 be understood that thls Sa e rack may readr d ily be employed for records as small as 6" in Another object of myinvention is to provide Without alteration and at h Same a record rack of the above character, so formed time will receive records at least 15" in diameter.

that in shipping a large number of such racks, However it i the common piactice to make the Same may be relatively nested for Shipping a records of merit nearly entirely in the standard I sizes of 10" and 12". 333 large number m relatwely small con- Such records are commonly made within a small a range of thicknesses, i. e., they are of approxij f obJefcts of my mventlon and the mven mately the same thickness, but slight differences non Itself W111 be .better ugderspood by.reference in thicknesses and slight difierences in diameters 1 the g p p llitlstratmg even for a given rated size, are encountered, and erred em odlment of my inven ion, and t0 the 40 at the same time records which have been kept following description wherein reference 18 made for some time and which may have been exposed to Said drawings, a h f Varying embodi' to warping pressure under temperature conditions ments of the e 6 3 are dlsclosedwhich may occasionally be achieved on hot days, Inthe draw sor from a nearby heating radiator or the like,

- Fig. 1 illustrates a side elevational view of an sometimes become warped, and t record k of embodiment of my lnventlon; my invention contemplates receiving records hav- Flg. 2 illustrates an end elevational view therejng s1ight variations in efiective diameter and of; thicknesses, in the same rack within the range Fig. 3 illustrates a top plan view thereof; of sizes above indicated.

Fi 4 is a fra n y v w of a transver Although the record rack illustrated in the section illustrating a cushioning record rest drawings may be made, also, in varying sizes, a

means which may be advantageously applied to common size of great utility under present con-.

the record rack of the foregoing figures; and ditions in the art is one wherein the two walls Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of merely the ridge 8 and 9 extend angularly relative to each other portion to indicate a coating of cushioning nmat an angle substantially less than and in the embodiment shown being approximately 70. It will be understood, however, that for records of larger sizes the angle would be greater, but in every case must be substantially less than 180, and in order for the record rack to carry, for instance, a range of record sizes from 10" to 12" the angle as indicated in Fig. 2 should not be, for practical purposes, in excess of 135.

For the purpose of compactness and general utility, and to. increase. the range of record sizes which maybe received, the angular relation indicated on the drawings, of 70, appears to me to be very satisfactory.

Preferably prior to providing the medial bend l in the process of manufacturing myimproved rack, narrow transverse slots I are provided, and

I find that for records of the common thicknesses, in a record rack such as that'illustratedIwlierein the sheet has a length between the end edges 3 and 3 of approximately 14%;", and the" portion of such length occupied-by the slotsand rintervening strips of metal=3,0, being about 12%", this distance of 12% maybe divided into ninetynine equal widths for slots andstrips; in other .words, into fifty slots and forty-nine intervening strips, all of substantially. the'samewidth, each of said slots and each of-said strips being thereby of a width of-about /g-ofaninch.

Records of the common sizesia-re commonly under in thickness, sothat they=wquld -be readily and loosely received within the slots of the rack of my invention, with a sufficient margin to more than take care of variations in thickness and slightly warped records, even whenthe cushioning coating is applied to the strips which intervene between each pair of slots,v as hereinafter described.

Each of the slots, when applied to the fiat; sheet blank, is preferably of a length; of 9%);and

when the blank has been given the 'medial bend,

the-ends of said slots are approximatelyspaced about apart.

The initial blank width for the example'herein described is about '15". The slots the formed blank extending: preferably to :equal distances down the walls Band- 9,. leave an unslotted border portion I I- of--,approximately2 whereof about /4" .at the extremegbottomedges is arcuately :turned,- as indicated, in the making: of reverse bends at [2, to provide the rack-,-with lateral grooved supportingsurfaces at; l3;i.adapted to rest upon the top; surface l4 -of -;ay table, phonograph -or radio tshelf, -01? the i1ike,';upon which the rack is to be placed.

Between the walls 8 and ;-9, and-preferably.

joined .to the inner surfaceswithin the edges 3 and 4, at l5and 16 I provide a pair-of preferably sheet-metal braces l1 and-l8, said bracesibeing provided with end fianges l S and 20', -by1 which the supports l1 and I8 are secured to the side walls.

8 and 9 by riveting, orpreferablyby spot-welding. The braces l1 and I8 are preferablyprovided with pendant upwardly turned arcuately formed handle portions 2! and-22' having longitudinally extending concave under surfaces '23.:

whereby a cushioning coating, preferably ornamental, is provided, such coating with respect to the side edges of the sheet metal bordering the slots l0, including the strips 38, performing the highly advantageous function of preventing scratching of the composition disc records placed within the slots.

I find that for this purpose a coating process Well known in the mechanical decorative arts as flocking is highly efilcaciouasuch coating comprising an adhesive and relatively short fibers or threads of wool or like fabric material applied by an air blower, whereby a blast of air conveying the short fibers or threads of wool or like material .areiblown onto the adhesive-coated metal parts of the rack, and then passed through a drier,wh'e reby the wool fabric or like coating jmate'riaLcoversthe entire exterior surfaces of strips thereto, the use-ofglue or other adhesive being preferable because of its simplicity and low all ,of the parts, penetrating to the surfaces bordering the slots, and all other parts.

-Preferably these fibers of material are of any desired color, such as blue, 'which substantially adds. to-the decorative effect of the rack.

-As; illustrated in Fig. 6, theslotsmight extend in the formofwslits- 25 and-26 into the unslotted border portion lhwhereby a flange portion 21 is provided which can beturnedeither inwardly or outwardly. with relation to the intervening strips 30 and the border portion l I. In the form shownin Fig. 6 the flange is bent inwardly of the border portion ll.

- It is to be noted that the flange portion 2'! thus provided extends the area .upon which the record might restwhen-the record-is in the furthest receptive position.

It may be said that however efiicacious the rack may be. inutilitarian .aspects -s'ale of the-same cannot-be .effectivelyaccomplished .in substantial and, as each record from time to. time,.is in- 1 serted in the rack' indiiferently. as. to rotative position, ordinarily all playing ."surfaces of the records on .both sides thereof, and". periodically 'cleaned'byithe action ofthe flocking on the edge portions ofthe strips during insertion, and removal of records to and from the rack.

Subsequent to the flocking .operation, I preferablyapplyrubber strips 24 and25, one to the inner surfaceof each of the walls'i8 and 9,- by gluing; riveting, or otherwise securing said cost, and where the rubber strips are adhesively applied, this is preferably done subsequentto the flocking operation, since penetration of the fibers into the adhesivematerial provides avery efi'icacious adhesivebonding between the-metal side walls 8 and 9 of the rack and the rubber stripsl24 and 25.'

Also,rsubsequent;to the .fiockinglioperatiom an indioiastrip plate; 26".is secured. .to onesidewalll,

, Celluloid, -01: 1 any othersuitable material,

The plate 26, placed immediately below an end of each of the slots I0, bears a numerical, alphabetical, or other indicia, such as the series of numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, to numerically or otherwise indicate the different record slots, whereby records correspondingly numbered may always be placed in the proper slots, and whereby an index record of phonograph record discs may be kept of each and every rack containing records, and said records may be thus readily located.

Records placed in the slots engage the rack, at 28, at two spaced portions of their peripheries, and as in the example described, substantially 5%" apart, a sector of the record being thereby housed within and between the walls 8 and 9, and a chordal border portion of the record extending below the level of the points 28, but above the surface l4 of the table or other surface on which the record rack may rest.

The rack o constructed, in the complete form described, by metal piercing and metal bending operations, is now ready for use and records may then be inserted and removed from the slots.

Records are preferably removed by placing a finger against an outwardly extending lower surface, such as indicated at 29 for the two sizes of records indicated in Fig. 2, and then are rolled by pressure applied to said records, for instance, in the direction of the ridge 2'7, whereby the records will roll slightly upwardly and laterally outwardly from the more distant points 28, upon which they will rest during the rolling, and then may be grasped from the remote side of the rack and lifted entirely out of the rack slot.

Thus, adjacent records of the same size may be readily removed in a simple manner, to avoid the greater difficulty of removing such records by merely attempting to grasp the upper edge portion of a record and lifting it, which operation would be difiicult in View of the close proximity of other records of the same size.

A slight movement of the record, in the manner described, causes such record to project upwardly and outwardly from adjacent records, so that it may be grasped for ready removal, and in fact the rolling may be continued until a considerable portion of the record emerges beyond the plane of the other adjacent records of the same size.

Having thus described my invention in a preferred embodiment, and accordingto the example herein illustrated, I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made from the embodiment illustrated and example described, but without departing from the spirit of my invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A disc phonograph record rack comprising a medially bent sheet of metal providing a pair of substantially planular divergent walls with an uppermost ridge at the junction of and forming a continuation of the walls, said sheet being provided with a series of elongated parallel spaced narrow perforations each of sufificient width to receive the thickness of a phonograph disc record, said perforations extending transversely across said ridge and adjacent portions of said walls, the lower border portions of each said wall being, reversely bent to provide a pair of laterally spaced parallel supporting base portions for the perforated wall and ridge portions, said walls adjacent the ends of said perforations being so spaced as to be susceptible of subtending such an arc of the circumference of records of ordinary sizes inserted into said perforations which is substantially less than a half circle, and a layer of cushioning material applied to the outer and side edge surfaces of the portions of said sheet bordering said perforations.

2. A rack for phonograph records of the disc type, comprising a single sheet of relatively thin sheetmetal coated with a cushioning material, said sheet bent along an intermediate portion to provide two downwardly divergent walls and an intermediate joining ridge, said ridge and portions of the downward walls being provided with a series of slots with intervening metal strips between the slots, the lowermost terminal portion of said walls providing supporting surface contacting engaging portions, said slots terminating above the lowermost supporting portion of said walls, said slots each receiving a disc record, the metal surfaces bordering the ends of said slots providing two points of supporting contact with each said record, and the coating of cushioning material providing fabric record engaging surfaces for records placed within said slots, whereby said fabric material may cushion said records and clean the playing surfaces thereof during placement and removal of said records.

3. A disc phonograph record rack comprising a medially bent sheet providing a pair of substantially planular divergent walls with an uppermost ridge at the junction of and forming a continuation of the walls, said sheet having a.

perforated portion in the central area of the sheet to provide a series of straight elongated parallel spaced narrow perforations each of sufficient width to receive the thickness of a phonograph disc record, said perforations extending transversely across said ridge and adjacent portions of said walls, said walls adjacent the ends of said perforations being so spaced as to be susceptible of subtending such an arc of the circumference of records of ordinary sizes inserted into said perforations which is substantially less than a half circle, the portions of said sheet providing the lateral long sides of the perforations being provided with a layer of cushioning record brushing material secured thereto.

4. A disc phonograph record rack comprising a medially bent sheet of metal providing a pair of substantially planular divergent walls with an uppermost ridge at the junction of and forming a continuation of the walls, said sheet being provided with a series of elongated parallel spaced narrow perforations each of sufficient width to receive the thickness of a phonograph disc record, said perforations extending transversely across said ridge and adjacent portions of said walls, the lower border portions of each said wall providing a pair of laterally spaced parallel supporting base portions for the perforated wall and ridge portions, said walls adjacent the ends of said perforations being so spaced as to be susceptible of subtending such an arc of the circumference of records of ordinary sizes inserted into said perforations which is substantially less than a half circle, and a layer of cushioning material applied to the outer and side edge surfaces of the portions of said sheet bordering said perforations.

5. A rack for storage of disc type phonograph records of substantially varying diameters, essentially unitarily formed of a plate of metallic or substantially equivalent material and having formed therein a plurality of straight narrow elongated relatively parallel slot openingsextend ing longitudinally of the plate, said plate bent transversely of said slots medially of their longitudinal extent, to provide a pair of divergent walls with said openings extending upwardly of each said wall and across the transverse region of:

bending, said openings being laterally separated by intervening narrow strips of said plate mate'- rial, the portions of said plate walls disposed. longitudinally beyond the ends of the openings providing a base portion supporting the slotted portions of the plate, said rack comprising a layer of cushioning material affixed at least to the lateral edge portions of said'strips, said rack adapted to receive a disc record in each said slot opening, with the recordengaging, by peripheral edge portions thereof which are relatively spacedapart substantially less than a half circle, with record supporting'elements of the rack at the twoends of the slot and disposed in the plane thereof.

6. A disc phonograph record rack comprising a medially bent sheet of metal providing a pair of substantially planular divergent walls with an uppermost ridge at the junction of and forming a continuation of the walls, said sheet being provided with a series of elongated parallel spaced narrow perforations each of sufficient width to receive the thickness of a phonograph disc record, said perforations extending transversely across said ridge and adjacent portions of said walls and means for supporting on a flat surfacesaid bent plate in inverted V position, said walls adjacent the ends of said perforations being so spaced as to be susceptible of subtending such an arc of the circumference of records of ordinary sizes inserted into said perforations which is substantially less than a half circle, and a layer of cushioning material applied to the outer and side edge surfaces of the portions of said sheet bordering said perforations.

7. A rack for storage of disc type phonograph records of substantially varying diameters, essentially unitarily formed of a plate of metallic or substantially equivalent material and having formed therein a plurality of straight. narrow elongated relatively parallel slot openings extending longitudinally of the plate, said plate bent transversely of said slots medially of their longitudinal extent, to provide a pair of divergent walls with said openings extending upwardly of each said wall and across the transverse region of bendingg said. openings being laterally separated by intervening narrow strips of said plate material, and means for supporting on a flat surface said bent plate in inverted V position, said rack comprising a layer of cushioning material afiixedat least to the lateral edge portions of said strips, said rack adapted to receive a disc record ineach said slot opening, with the record engaging, by peripheral edge portions thereof which are'relatively spaced apart substantially less than a half circle, with record supporting elements of the rack at the two ends of the slot and disposed in the plane thereof.

8. A rack for storage of disc type phonograph records of substantially varying diameters, essentially unitarily formed of a plate of metallic or substantially equivalent material and having formed therein a plurality of straight narrow elongated relatively parallel slot openings extending longitudinally of the plate, said plate bent transversely of said slots medially of their longitudinal extent, to provide a pair of divergent walls with said openings extending upwardly of each said wall and across the transverse region of bending, said openings being laterally separated by intervening narrow strips of said plate material, and means for supporting on a flat surface said bent plate in inverted V position, the record engaging confronting edges of each said slot being of substantially non-abrasive material, said rack adapted to receive a disc record in each saidslot opening with the record engaging, by peripheral edge portions thereof which are relatively spaced'apart-substantially less than a half circle, with record supporting elements of the rack at the two ends of the slot and disposed in the plane thereof.

FRANK D. SLOUGH. 

